Sharp to start work on next iPhone screen in June, iPhone 6/iPhone 5S shipping in August

Apple is said to have given Sharp the contract to produce the liquid crystal panel for the next iPhone, and a new report in Japanese newspaper Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun suggests that work is to commence in June.

Apple is said to have given Sharp the contract to produce the liquid crystal panel for the next iPhone, and a new report in Japanese newspaper Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun suggests that work is to commence in June.

According to that report, Sharp will be assisted by LG and the Japan Display group, which includes Sony, Hitachi, Toshiba and the INCJ. The report indicates that Apple has already placed its orders with the above companies.

The production will happen at the May Kameyama Plant No. 1 which has been "plagued by sluggish occupancy rate since the beginning of the year," according to the report, as a result the "full production of 600 million units a month" is good news for the plant, it would seem.

Should production start in June we cant really expect a launch date before August or September. MacRumors notes that earlier this year it was thought that iPhone 5S manufacturer would begin in March and that the phone would see a summer release. However, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo suggested that production challenges relating to the fingerprint sensor have caused delays. "Apple has to work out how to prevent interference from the black and white coating material under the cover glass," he said, in mid April.

Earlier this year, Kuo predicted that Apple's next-generation iPhone will have a built-in fingerprint sensor, which could be situated beneath the Home button, as well as an improved camera and an A7 chip.